Walker Hook sacrilege: Please express your outrage

Salt Spring News, October 11, 2004

by Jim Scott

In our mind, the desecration of Walker Hook is the most
egregious assault on the morality of our island community--and
there are many extant today. By several--no, many standards--this
development violates the ideals of right human conduct.

Donna Martin writes:

Walker Hook is one of Salt Spring Islands ecological, geological
and archaeological treasures. Home to a rich and diverse array
of terrestrial and marine plants and animals its worth lies
in its stunning natural beauty and habitat value. The tombolo
is layered metre deep in middens from coastal first nations
peoples who camped, fished and gathered shellfish along its
shores for thousands of years. Excavating this area and disturbing
and removing the skeletal remains of FN ancestors to accommodate
the infrastructure required for the waste management system
was cultural vandalism. Walker Hook is designated a high priority
protected site by the Federal/Provincial Georgia Basin Ecosystem
Conservation Partnership. Environment Canada, the BC Ministry
of Water Land and Air Protection and the Ministry of Sustainable
Resource Management all agree that 3 rare and sensitive ecosystems
are present within Walker Hook.

Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd, is a venture capital company headed
by Gidon Minkoff that produces large numbers of juvenile sablefish
for net cage farms in our coastal communities. This companies
stated intention is to expand and diversify to other species
and sell out to a large industry player.This development poses
ecological threats not only to Walker Hook but to all the
coastal communities that will be the recipients to these net
cage pen farms. The very concept of industrial use such as
this violates everything that the Trust stands for.There has
been loud and strong community opposition to this hatchery
development from day one. The Salt Spring Residents for Responsible
Land Use together with the Penelakut FN elders and the Canadian
Sablefish Association filed joint appeals with the Environmental
Appeal Board regarding Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd. temporary
waste permit which allows them to pump 619 cubic meters of
hatchery effluent into the tombolo each day. We are still
awaiting this decision.

Salt Spring Island Residents for Responsible Land Use member,
Dr. Kathy Dunster, provide links to more information and urges
everyone to write saying they are adversely affected by this
proposed discharge. Click on full story to read her submission.

Dear Gulf Islanders and friends of the Salish Sea

You may not be aware (unless you live on Salt Spring) that
Sablefin Hatcheries has now applied for a permanent Waste
Management Permit (Application No. PE17960), to pump 5 times
the amount of fish hatchery sewage (2,618 cubic meters) daily
into the burial midden and tombolo, which flows into the marine
intertidal and eelgrass†bed at Walker Hook on Salt Spring
Island. It is critical that this permit not be issued until
all environmental, community and heritage concerns have been
addressed. Apparently the rules allow this to happen even
though the temporary permit is under appeal at the Environmental
Appeal Board.

As one of the technical (environmental) experts helping†the†Salt
Spring Residents for Responsible Land Use, Penelakut First
Nation and Canadian Sablefish Association in appealing the
temporary permit at the EAB, I am asking†people from everywhere
to write saying they are adversely affected by this proposed
discharge. While the main intervenors are trying to have the
deadline extended, there is no assurance that will happen
so your letter must reach Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd. by next
Friday, October 15th. There are three ways to do this